As technology automates much of the mechanics of money, advisors need to evolve to the more emotional aspects of money. After all, simply helping rich people get richer isn’t usually a driving motivator for advisors—or clients.
In my conversation with Doug Lennick, the co-founder of Think2Perform, an author and former EVP of advice and retail distribution for American Express Financial Advisors (now Ameriprise Financial), he shared four words that he believes underlie the real value financial advisors deliver.
Values
Money is neutral. It’s neither good nor bad. Some say money is a representation of your life energy in the sense that you exchanged your time and your output for something we call money.
Values are the things that have intrinsic worth to us. These are the qualities that we hold dear and strive to live.
Now, how well does the way you save, invest and spend your money reflect what you say your values are? Or better yet, do you know what your client values and do you help them align their money with their values?
Purpose
Many people go through life reacting to it instead of proactively living a life with purpose. Your purpose is the organizing aim of your life. It’s what gives you meaning to want to get out of bed in the morning instead of staying warm under the covers.
Don’t let the word “purpose” overwhelm you with a feeling that your purpose has to be some grand vision that changes the world. It doesn’t. In simple terms, your purpose is a sense of what you can do in life that gives you direction and makes you feel that your life has meaning.
Do you have any idea what purpose animates your clients’ behavior? You might think, “Steve, that’s really awkward. I’m not going to ask my clients, ‘what’s your life purpose?’” And I agree. You shouldn’t directly ask that.